Pepys: A Biography

Ollard, Richard

ISBN 10: 1856190668 / ISBN 13: 9781856190664

Published by Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991

About this Item

VGC.Sinclair-Stevenson,1991.First UK edition-first printing.Large format black hardback(gilt lettering to the spine,light shelf wear on the cover) with Dj(large tear,creases and nicks on the edges of the Dj cover),both in VGC.Illustrated with many full colour,b/w photos,drawings,diagrams.Nice and clean pages with two ink marks on the outer edges,name written and two pencil marks impressions on the edge of the first page of the book.The book is in VGC with light shelf wear on the Dj cover.419pp including Appendix,a note on dates and references,notes,chronology,list of illustrations,index.Price un-clipped.First edition.Note:This is very heavy book(approx. 1.7 Kg). This is another paragraph Review: Ollard's biography of Samuel Pepys is a perverse sort of tribute to the style of the rakish 17th century diarist: its exceedingly ponderous monotony only serves to highlight the charm and spirit of the original journals. Ollard, author of The Escape of Charles II and a biography of 17th century admiral Sir Robert Holmes, calls the diary one of the greatest works in the language (his assessments of his hero tend to hyperbole) but nevertheless focuses on boats rather than books. His central thesis is that Pepys was - despite his evident greed, corruption, selfishness, petty jealousies - one of England's greatest naval administrators. Pepys' part in the Dutch wars is lovingly detailed, yet his magnificent passages on the Plague and the Great Fire go virtually unremarked. Ollard's defense of his notorious amours is humorless, even prudish; likewise re his religious skepticism. At times he slips almost into hagiography, a tone of reverence that's entirely inappropriate to the picaresque reality of the dissolute, overweening but clever tailor's son. At best, this is a factual history of what the author calls - again, somewhat excessively - the most exciting and eventful period of English history.

Seller Inventory # 1841

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Pepys: A Biography
• Publisher: Sinclair-Stevenson
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1856190668
• ISBN 13: 9781856190664
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First UK edition-first printing.
• Condition: Very good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biographies & Memoirs

About this title

Synopsis

From the author of "Clarendon and His Friends", this biography of Pepys describes the accomplishments of the man, the contradictions and contrasts in his character, and the eventful times in which he lived.